Preacher's Point: Thoughts on the perplexity of nations

Down through history when nations went to war with one another, there were strategic objectives in combat. Things like taking a hill, stopping or slowing down supply lines by taking out a bridge, attacking the flank of the enemies line, and so on.

Back in the day, the objective in a war was to win. The victory was achieved by pushing an invading army out of your land and defeating them soundly enough to where they lose the will to fight. World War II would be an example of this. In Europe, the Allies drove the Nazis out of the nations they had invaded and eventually the German capital of Berlin was taken by the Allies. In the Pacific theater, the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki took the fighting heart from the enemy.

The world is at war again today. Many in power positions throughout the globe refuse to call it a war because they do not want to lump all Muslims in one group as the enemy. It is true that all Muslims do not have the desire to kill as many infidels as possible and this brings difficulty in knowing who the enemy is. Also adding to the problems fighting this war is the fact that there is no hill to take, no bridge to destroy to stop supply lines, no flank to attack. There is no capital city to capture to sap the will to fight from the enemy. There is no defined war zone. Not only that, but the enemy could be from the Middle East or the guy across the street. You may know the enemy, see him every day and he is friendly, helpful, has a smile on his face, then one day he shows up strapped with a bomb at a local club, or pop concert, or any other place people are gathering.

You may be thinking “Preacher, you are scaring me.” Well, my intent is not to instill fear, but to get Christians to think.

Think about the future. Christians may argue about the timing of the rapture, but 99.99 percent of the Christians I have met believe that there will be an Antichrist who will rule the world during a seven-year tribulation period. At the end of these seven years, Jesus will return to establish His kingdom.

The world has never been ready for one ruler. There must be some event(s) or circumstance(s) like the world has never seen, that will cause the world to fall and worship the man of sin.

Example – A person just does not wake up one day and proclaim themselves to be a doctor. There are study habits formulated in elementary school; those study habits result in good grades in high school, which leads to acceptance into college, then medical school. The day a person can rightfully say, “I am a doctor,” is a direct result of all the days before it. As it is with a person’s life, so it is with the world; The Antichrist will not wake up one day and think, “Number one on the to do list today – take over the world. Hmm, this might take most of the morning and afternoon.”

The day of the Antichrist taking over will be a result of all the days before it.

In describing the end times Jesus gave an interesting description, “and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity” (Luke 21:25). Nations will be distressed to the point of not knowing what to do – perplexity. If countries reach a day of perplexity it, like everything else in life, it will be a result of all the days before it. The world situation will become so bad, so chaotic, so frightening, that the people of earth will be looking for a savior.

In the first 12 days of Ramadan 2017, there have been 832 dead and 912 injured from 60 attacks all around the globe. It is not only the West under attack. The nations experiencing at least one terror attack this Ramadan season include Afghanistan, Pakistan, Philippines, Somalia, Iraq, Nigeria, Libya, Syria, Kenya, Niger, Yemen, Germany, Cameroon, Tunisia, England, India, Australia and France.

The terror attacks are setting the stage for worldwide fear and confusion, in other words, perplexity. Throw in the natural disasters Christ said would come and the fear and confusion are multiplied.

Can all this terror be stopped? The answer to that question holds a direct link to how close in time we are to the Antichrist, the tribulation and the return of Christ. Yet, no human knows when these events will take place. If the fulfillment of these Biblical prophecies is close at hand, we can expect more events throwing the nations of the world into perplexity. After all, the day of a future world leader will be the sum of all the days before it.

Preacher Tim Johnson is pastor of Countryside Baptist Church in Parke County, Ind. Email him at preacherspoint@gmail.com and visit preacherjohnson.com.